Overcoming Chaos
by Usami
Summary: The Chaos Emeralds hold both positive and negative energy within them. Should the energy ever be released into the world, everything will be destroyed. So when the Emeralds shatter, a vessel is chosen to contain it all, gambling between life and death...


Okay, so I know that I have a bunch of other stories that I need to update...But for some reason, I've had the biggest urge to write this story, and I knew the idea would never go away if I didn't write this down. So...I wrote it...

Anyway, this is actually a sequel to my other Shadow story, "Running Towards Light." But I think it'll be all right on its own, though there might be some things that might not make much sense unless you read the explanation in the first story. Otherwise, I think this story will be all right without reading "Running Towards Light". If you want to read the prior story, though, don't let me stop you...(innocent look)

But at any rate, on with the story!

**Overcoming Chaos**

Dust rose over the horizon as a dark blur hurried through the woody area. Jumping up, the figure began running on the tree tops, heading to a tall ladder in the distance. In mere seconds, he reached the ladder. Instead of climbing it, however, he jumped up, landing on the platform where a rail car appeared to be waiting.

Crimson eyes looked at the cart for a moment before running down the cave, following the tracks to another area of the Mystic Ruins. Emerging into the other side, he sped by the train station, heading up to a small house at the top of a plateau.

Skidding to a stop, the dark hedgehog walked up the steps, hesitating slightly before knocking on the door.

At first there was only silence, then the sound of soft footsteps on thick metal ground. Soon the door opened, and a familiar two-tailed fox stood at the doorway, sapphire eyes filled with surprise as he looked at the dark hedgehog.

"Shadow," the young fox said, "what are you doing here?"

"I was traveling," the life form replied in his soft tenor voice, "and I ended up passing through. I was wondering if I could stay here tonight. I should be gone in the morning…"

Smiling a little, Tails nodded, opening the door more for the other to enter. "Sure……You don't have to leave tomorrow, though. You can stay as long as you need to."

Shadow shook his head slightly as he slowly entered. "I really shouldn't stay longer than a day."

Though curious to the other's statement, the young fox decided not to pry. "So, how are you doing, Shadow? With your memory, I mean…"

"All right, I suppose," the hedgehog replied.

"Have you remembered everything?"

"Not yet."(1)

"Oh…" Unsure of what else to say, Tails allowed an uncomfortable silence to fall between them. He wasn't sure if bringing up the other's lost memories was a good idea.

As though sensing what the young genius was thinking, Shadow said, "I don't remember everything, but I know enough for now. The rest will come to me when it does."

Tails nodded, glad that the other wasn't upset at the mention of his memories. Then, as though remembering something, he remarked, "Oh, that's right. Shadow, I'm glad you came when you did."

The life form blinked, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I was in the middle of some research when you arrived, and I need to ask you something. Do you have a Chaos Emerald with you?"

Shadow nodded.

"May I borrow it?"

Puzzled by the odd question, Shadow pulled out the green Chaos Emerald, handing it to the fox.

Tails looked at it for a moment before looking at the midnight hedgehog. Indicating for the other to follow him, the fox headed further into the workshop.

Walking behind the other, the hedgehog allowed his crimson eyes to wander. Pieces of metal, mechanical parts, tools…all these and more were easily found in the workshop.

It made it hard for Shadow to believe that the fox was only eight years old.

Looking up, the hedgehog watched as Tails sat at a work table, empty of anything but a magnifying glass and the yellow Chaos Emerald.

Normally, when Shadow stayed at the work shop, the table was full of machine parts and tools for whatever the fox was working on. And if he already had a Chaos Emerald, why did he need the one Shadow had?

The dark hedgehog was brought back to reality as the fox gave a frustrated sigh. Turning to Shadow, he said, "Shadow, can you look at something for me?"

Hesitating slightly, the ultimate life form walked over to the work table, unsure of what he should do.

Placing a Chaos Emerald in Shadow's hand, Tails then gave him the magnifying glass. "I need to know if you see anything on the Chaos Emerald."

Still a little confused, the midnight hedgehog looked at the Chaos Emerald under the glass. As he did so, his blood-red eyes widened in surprise.

Along the jade crystal surface was a large dark crack(2).

After a moment of silence, Tails asked softly, "Do you see anything?"

"Yeah," he replied, placing the magnifying glass on the table, "is it supposed to be cracking like that?"

The fox gave another frustrated sigh. "No…" he replied, his tone on the edge of a whine. "Darn it…I was hoping I was just imagining things…"

"How long have you known about this?"

"A few weeks. I was doing some research on the Chaos Emeralds when I noticed this on the one I had. I thought I was just imagining things, because you can't see the crack without the magnifying glass…"

Looking at the Emerald in his hand, the hedgehog was surprised to see that there seemed to be no crack on the smooth surface.

"But the more research I did, the more worried I became."

"Well, what did you find out about them?"

The young genius sighed slightly. "Nothing much. There's really not much information about them. I know they're very powerful and hold both positive and negative energy. What worries me, though, is since there isn't a lot of information about the Chaos Emeralds, we don't know what will happen if they break."(3)

Shadow frowned, looking at the crystal surface of the emerald before turning to the fox. "But didn't you make a synthetic Chaos Emerald once? How did you manage to do that if you didn't know more about them?"

Tails blinked in surprise. "You remember about that?"

"Well, I remember _a_ fake Chaos Emerald…I know Sonic used it once, but I don't remember much else."

"So how do you know that I made it?"

"Well, other than Doctor Eggman, you are probably the only one who has the means of creating a Chaos Emerald."

"Oh…well, it wasn't as powerful as the real Chaos Emerald. And it was created by researching the energy properties, not the Chaos Emeralds themselves."

"What more could the Chaos Emeralds be than powerful energy?"

"I'm sure they are much more than just that, but all we ever use them for _is _the energy we need. We think the Emeralds are so powerful, but we never think of what else they can do. The Chaos Emeralds have been around for so long…We don't know how much history or anything that they can hold…"(4)

Shadow looked at the fox. "History?"

"Yeah…We don't know what else they are capable of…"

Looking at the jade Chaos Emerald in his hand, Shadow began to think of his lost memories. 'If we don't know what they are capable of…could there be a way…to get all my memory back with the Chaos Emeralds?'

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, causing both Tails and Shadow to look over. As the fox got to his feet to answer the door, a familiar voice called from the other side, "Tails! Hey Tails, you home?"

The dark hedgehog watched as the young fox's sapphire eyes lit with excitement, and he hurried to the door, throwing it open for the well-known blue hedgehog.

"Hey!" Sonic said, grinning as usual. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Shadow remained where he stood, watching the friendly exchange between the fox and other hedgehog. As he looked on, an unfamiliar feeling arose within him, and uncertainty filled his mind as to what he was feeling and why.

After a moment, Shadow shook his head to clear his thoughts, turning away from the door. The action, however, called the other hedgehog's attention.

"Hey Shadow!" the azure hero said, still grinning. "Didn't expect you to be here. Haven't seen you in a while either."

The midnight hedgehog simply nodded to the other.

As Tails allowed Sonic to enter, the blue hedgehog walked up to his look-a-like. "So what are you doing here in the Mystic Ruins?"

"I was just passing through and I decided I needed a place to stay for the night."

The hero nodded. "I see…"

"So, what are you doing here, Sonic?" Tails asked, coming up from behind his friend.

"Oh yeah…I needed you to look at something, Tails…"

The young fox tilted his head slightly in curiosity. "What's that?"

"Well, while I was traveling, I saw this Chaos Emerald in a lake, and it was the weirdest thing(5)…"

Tails and Shadow glanced at each other knowingly before looking back at Sonic. "Was there a crack on it?" Shadow asked.

The azure hedgehog nodded, confusion in his leaf-green eyes. "Yeah…How'd you know?"

"We've found cracks on two others," Tails replied, "and there could be more cracks on the other Chaos Emeralds as well."

"What does it mean?" Sonic asked.

The fox shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. I thought maybe it would be best to get the other Emeralds first."

"Okay," the teen replied, "we'll do that as –"

"No," Shadow said suddenly, looking at his 'twin', "I'll do it."

Sonic and Tails both looked at him. "Shadow…?" the hedgehog said.

The life form avoided their gazes as he looked at the jade crystal in his hand. "I don't know if it's possible, but I'll gather all the Chaos Emeralds…if there is any chance that they can help me get my memory back…."(6)

"Oh…" Sonic replied, nodding in understanding. "I see…Okay Shadow. We'll leave it to you."

The dark hedgehog nodded, smiling in slight gratitude.

"But you can do it in the morning," the hero added. "You should rest up tonight…If I know anything about the Chaos Emeralds, you'll need as much strength as you can get…."

_TBC_

(1) I had a problem with the whole amnesia issue in "Running Towards Light". Someone had left a review telling me that amnesia always came back all at once after a while. Even though things seem familiar, all the memories of an amnesia victim come back _all at once_, and since Shadow seemed to remember everything, it meant thatShadow's memory had entirely returned to him.I, on the other hand, thought that memories come back piece by piece, and that Shadow was still missing pieces of his memory. So, I went to talk to someone I knew who knew a lot about medical information, including amnesia. Her answer proved both the reviewer and me right. What she told me was that amnesia victims first gains either _a piece _or _pieces _of their memories before all of it comes back at once. So in some cases, the amnesia victim can gain piece by piece of their memories before all of it returns to them. That could be a longer, more drawn out process. So, it could be argued that Shadow had either his full memory back or (in the case of this story) he only had pieces of his memory and the rest had not returned to him yet. I hope that made sense to everyone...

(2) The Chaos Emerald situation will be explained in later chapters. I have this whole thing planned out about them.But yes, there are cracks in the Chaos Emeralds...

(3) Did I leave out anything that was revealed about the Chaos Emeralds in SA/SA2/Sonic Heroes? If I did, please let me know.

(4) See note 2

(5) I don't mean to offend anyone by explaining this if it seems so obvious to others. This is just for people like my older sister who didn't really understand this. Sonic was able to see the crack in the Chaos Emerald because the water magnified the crack like the magnifying glass did for the other two.

(6) In "Running Towards Light", Shadow didn't mind too much about getting his memory back as he did in the beginning of the story. Still, if I had a chance to gain my memories back, I would go for it...That's just me, though...

So, I hope you all enjoyed this. Hopefully, I'll be able to continue this for a while. Please review! Thanks!


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